There will be a costume parade through the Town Center mall on Saturday at noon, a drink and paint, Q&As with various guests, cosplay panels, music performances, horror trivia contest, horror writers workshop, scream contest, zombie survival panel, costume contest on Saturday, performances from Rocky Horror and Repo! the Genetic Opera, craft workshops, and more. Sunday is Kids Day with reduced prices, junior Ghostbuster training, kids mask workshop, kids costume contest and other fun activities. Aftershock party at the Blue Parrot on Capitol Street on Friday and Saturday.

Pre-reg before 9/15 is $45 for weekend, $20 for Friday or Saturday, $15 for Sunday, and $5 cheaper for children under 15. At door prices are $50 for weekend, $25 for Friday or Saturday, $20 for Sunday, and $5 cheaper for children under 15. You can get VIP pass for $125 that comes with a t-shirt, preferred seating at events, on autograph ticket, gift bag, and line skip ability.

All fans of horror, makeup, and off kilter entertainment should give the show a look over.

Old School Convention is a being put on by Aaron Hickman as a fundraiser for St. Marys Elementary School in the town of St Marys near Parkersburg. St. Marys is the oldest functioning school in WV. The con is on Saturday April 25th from 10am to 5pm at the St Marys School.

They are will have a cosplay contest at 2pm for both adults and children. Face painting for the kids. There will be appearances by the WV Ghostbusters, an Elsa cosplayer for photos with the kids, and Larry Parmiter the director of the movie Axeman of Henderson County. They will be holding a raffle and door prizes with original art from Billy Tucci, prints from Allen Bellman and Cafe Seven Comics, signed WVU football items, autograph photo of George “The Animal” Steele, DVDs, set of Game of Thrones figures, a $50 gift card to 218 shop in Ripley for the women, and more. Raffle tickets are one for $1, seven for $5, or fifteen for $10.

There will be displays of work from artisans and craftspeople. There will be a general Arts & Science competition and a winner to be chosen by populous vote. One Friday there will be a Tournament of the Masters for fencing, along with open field for pick-ups and workshops on Saturday. Thrown Weapons and Archery range will be open. A Royalty Travel Fundraiser, to fund the travel of SCA royalty to events, where you can buy $1 arrows to shoot at targets representing different peerages that will then be matched by said royal. Heavy Weapons events include Viking Insult, Grand Melee, 500 tournament, Order of the Gage Meet and Beat, and more.

Merchants selling at the event will have such things as leather works, jewelry, books, tankards, armor, handmade soap, and plenty more for the medieval enthusiast. Onsite food will be handled by Delights of Cathay.

Pre-registration is $18, those between 7 and 17 it is $9, and kids under six free. On site is $20, $10 for those 7 to 17, and still free for kids under six. A family of two adults and two minors can pre-reg for $54 or on site for $60. A day trip, starting at noon on Saturday, is $10 for adults and $5 for those 7 to 17. A surcharge for non-SCA members will apply.

Camping on site is free or you can stay at the Cedar Lakes hotel. All cabins have been sold out already.

Two different comic projects are up on Kickstarter now that you should check out and support.

The first one is Zombie Highway, a tale of the zombie apocalypse in West Virginia that Jason Pell, Roberto Viacava (Adventures in Superman) and Eduardo Bazan created over a decade ago (before Walking Dead and other zombie stories).

They are holding a Kickstart to produce a full hard cover 200 page collection of the series, most of which is out of print and hard to find, plus new material. There will be new coloring of formerly black and white pages and touched up art.

The story is about four men who steal a mysterious package for a client. Then zombies start to appear. Now they must work to stay alive from both zombies and people as they try to the package to their client so they can get paid.

Contributing can get you Zombie Highway postcards, pdfs, physical books, t-shirts, copies of Jason’s other books Season’s End and Suicide 5, original cover art, and a chance at being a zombie in the book. The first 250 backers (only at 96 backers of this writing) who pledge $25 or more will also get a limited print for their help.

The project has another four days and a little of $2,000 to meet their $10,000.

—————————————————————————————————————-

Next is Imposter a 100 page graphic novel broken into four self-contained parts each in a different genre; written by James Patrick (Green Arrow, Batman), drawn by Martin Szymanksi, coves by Victor Santos (Mice Templar, Furious), and published by 21 Pulp.

Imposter is the story of how the four greatest superheroes are all really just one man. Four different heroes for any kind of threat. Now he is trying to train a replacement to take over his deception, who happens to have his own plans.

Pledge levels include ones for the book, pdfs, trading cards, t-shirt, posters, prints, sketches, get drawn into the book, plaques, mugs, pens, and more. Backers will receive each part of the series they complete it.

They have twenty-three days to raise $5,000. They are already on their way to $2,000.

Participating stores in state include: Purple Earth Comics, Comic World, Lost Legion Games & Comics: The Rifleman, The Vault, The Castle, The Keep; Comic Paradise Plus, Four Horsemen Comics & Gaming, Your Hobby Place, Nerducopia, and Gary’s Comics & More. So all over really. The FCBD website has a store locator to help you out.

At the Four Horsemen they will be sponsoring a 24 hour gaming marathon with all proceeds going to Child’s Play. Child’s Play is a gaming industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with toys and games in a network of hospitals worldwide, including WVU Children’s Hospital. The event goes from opening on Saturday till they close on Sunday at 6pm. There will be a silent auction of items from local businesses and organizations, random giveaways, prizes, Star Wars art show and specials during it.

Oh and remember to buy at least one thing while you are at the shops. Support your local shop not just for what they sell, but as a place of gather of fandoms.

The library in Milton, WV is holding a free gathering for anime and manga fans called Moricon this Saturday, November 16th from 6pm to 9pm.

Activities at the event are an anime trivia game show, a video game room run by LANding Zone, a cosplay contest, anime viewing room, face painting, origami, and a free café. Last year’s café had some good curry, rice balls, tea, and other snacks. A small event, but a good way to spend a few hours if you live nearby.

The whole thing will be free and open to everyone to come and hang out. The library will be closed down during the event, so you can not check anything out.

The event is part of the Milton Library Manga Club. The club meets every Friday from 4-5pm. Activities rang from watching anime and playing video games to learning about Japanese culture and planning Moricon.

TOU is celebrating International Cosplay Day, from noon to 6pm. They will be having a Picture Scavenger Hunt, open card gaming, and a relax atmosphere to hang out. It is a bring your own food event, but feel free to bring any to share.

From 6pm to 10pm, Epic Adventures LARP and Battle Games is having their annual event Guardian of the Seasons. There will be boffer combat games, a role playing quest, and a potluck.

Then from 10pm till midnight, Epic Adventures annual Night Battle. They have flag collection boffer battle game and a Hunger Games style battle.

Plus after it gets dark, there will be a glow stick party. They will be able to play some music and it is bring your own glow sticks for fun.

Everyone is invited and welcome. You can hang out and do not need to participate in the LARPing.

——————————————————————————————–

Yet another event on the same day is Heros 4 Higher doing an Anti-Bullying Hero Training at the Huntington Mall in Barboursville.

Heroes 4 Hire is a group from Huntington that dresses as well known superheroes to spread a positive motivational message to children and adults. Their message “Be The Hero.” They are available for parties, fundraisers, hospital and school visits, or other special events.